Just Be Free (album)

Just Be Free is a demo album released by Warlock Records featuring music recorded by American recording artist Christina Aguilera. After finishing her run on The New Mickey Mouse Club, fifteen-year-old Aguilera began recording the album with New Jersey-based producers Roberts Alleca and Michael Brown. The pair gave Aguilera the opportunity to use a recording studio and presented her with demo music with the understanding that they could use the material for their own purpose, but also claiming they would not commercially release the recordings. Musically, the album consisted of dance style tracks as well as ballads, and saw Aguilera performing Spanish language songs. The record was conceived to showcase Aguilera's vocals in an effort to reach out to record labels, a venture which actually backfired after the recordings were not very well received among critics.

Six years after the completion of the album and Aguilera had achieved mainstream success, Brown and Allecca released the record without the permission of Aguilera or her management. When Aguilera discovered the release of the album, she hired lawyer Carla Christofferson to help stop the release, as she felt the recordings were not the quality she was associated with at that time. Warlock Records then filed their own lawsuit in an effort to continue with the release, and finally the case settled out of court. Aguilera requested that a letter noting background information be featured inside each copy. Critically, the album was not well received, and although critics praised her vocals, they panned the record's cheap production and lyrics. Just Be Free has sold over 128,000 copies in the United States.

Background

After news that The New Mickey Mouse Club would be filming its final season, Aguilera sought out a record deal. She spent time in Philadelphia to record demo tracks with various producers, hoping to have an album released by the time she had finished high school. While taping the final season of the show, she began working with New Jersey based producers Roberts Alleca and Michael Brown. The pair eventually built a relationship with Aguilera and her family, offering her studio time. They told her that the demo recordings she would produce would be their property, but also that they would never commercially release the material. She recorded eleven "rough and unfinished" tracks which then went on to become the Just Be Free studio sessions.

Musical style

The early tapes were conceived as a way of introducing Aguilera to the music industry, described as a "foot in the door" attempt to build interest in her musical abilities. During the recording sessions, Aguilera experimented with different languages, recording songs such as the title track "Just Be Free" in Spanish. Although the rightful writers of the content have been disputed, the recording sessions have been described as influential on future recordings from Aguilera. Musically the album generally consisted of ballad material which was created in an effort to showcase Aguilera's vocal talents although in addition to the ballads recorded in these sessions, dance music became a prominent theme throughout the eleven tracks she recorded during this time.